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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28240947">Happy Little Christmas Tales</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Piper_Ronnie/pseuds/Piper_Ronnie'>Piper_Ronnie</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>League of Legends RPF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Banter, Bwipo and Hyli are wholesome, Caps and Selfmade are the last to stay behind in Berlin, Christmas Decorations, Christmas Fluff, Eventual Happy Ending, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, The G2 idiots decorate a Christmas tree, Third story is a bit dramatic, Three different tales, ayaya!characters</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 01:27:01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>8,210</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28240947</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Piper_Ronnie/pseuds/Piper_Ronnie</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The holidays are right around the corner, and our lovely pro players all chose to celebrate their cosy winter time in their own ways.<br/>These are 3 different tales from the realm of the LEC, all starring their own pairings and Christmas shenanigans: </p>
<p>1.	Gather Around the Tree (G2 ensemble)<br/>2.	No Star Shines as Bright as You (Bwipo/Hyli)<br/>3.	Footsteps in the Snow (Caps/Selfmade)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Oskar "Selfmade" Boderek/Rasmus "Caps" Winther, Zdravets "Hylissang" Galabov/Gabriël "Bwipo" Rauh</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>DreamServer 2020 Advent Event</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Gather Around the Tree (G2 ensemble)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hello, hello, hello! Welcome to another entry in the wonderful DreamServer Advent Calendar 2020! </p>
<p>I hope you enjoy these three little snippets :)</p>
<p>PS: If you want to join our lovely Discord server, all you have to do is ask for a link in the comments. We've built a wonderful community together that inspires me everyday. Without the DreamServer, I definitely wouldn't have written anything for the rest of the year, but here we are! Thank you all, lots of love to all of my fellow Dreamers &lt;3 And special shoutout to FabulousHasi, who helped me pull these stories together yet again. You're a lifesaver!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Alright, so… how are we going to fit that inside of our living room?” Wunder asked, staring down at the monstrosity of a Christmas tree lying on the ground in front of G2’s apartment building.</p><p>“What do you mean?” The jungler asked, blinking innocently. It was beyond the toplaner to even begin to understand how the other guy had dragged that thing all the way up to their front door on his own. “Jankos… this tree is huge.” Wunder pointed out.</p><p>“Well, duh, only the BEST for the BEST team in the WEST!” The Pole exclaimed excitedly.</p><p>“Okay, I get that part but… seriously, how exactly did you think we’d be able to get this thing upstairs?” Martin sighed, shaking his head in disbelief.</p><p>“Have some FAITH, okay? I’m sure we can do it! Our teammates are too weak for the job, sure, but us big, strong MEN – we can do it!” The jungler announced confidently.</p><p>Who was Martin to disagree? “Fine, fine… you lead the way then, I’ll take care of the backline,” the toplaner mumbled, trying to grab the tree’s trunk without getting caught up in the little spikes and needles.</p><p>“That’s what I like to hear!” Jankos grinned eagerly, kicking the front door open with his foot as he pushed through.</p><p>He was carrying the tree at mid-length, causing him to look like a knight carrying a very unfortunate lance into battle. The thought alone was enough to make Wunder chuckle, even though that analogy would sort of imply that he was the horse’s arse. Getting the tree up the heavily wound-up staircase proved to be even more difficult than anticipated – lots of multilingual swearing echoed through the halls in the process instead of the holidays’ usual carols. And, just as Wunder was about to give up, let go of the tree and step to the side to watch Jankos slide down the stairs with the darn giant of a tree the jungler had insisted on getting, they somehow reached their team’s apartment. <em>A holiday miracle</em>, the toplaner considered as they made their final steps through G2’s corridor. It was probably not worth to risk killing your jungler for a damn Christmas tree anyway, but that’s easier said than done when said jungler keeps yelling <em>‘kurwa’</em> at you on the top of his very voluminous lungs.</p><p>“There, I TOLD you it would work!” Jankos proudly announced after they had finally managed to heave the tree into an upright position in the team’s living room, after they just barely avoided  sweeping down all the paintings hung up on the walls of the hallway in the process of getting it there.</p><p>“Sure, let’s pretend you actually used your head before jumping in for once,” Wunder grumbled, crossing his arms. “Okay, well… it’s standing. What now?”</p><p>“Now we DECORATE it, of course!” The jungler beamed with his hands on his hips. “Yeah, so… uhm, where do we start?” He asked, a little quieter this time.</p><p>“You tell me… don’t you have experience with this or something?” The toplaner asked, raising a brow.</p><p>“No, why?”                                                                                                   </p><p>“What?? But it was your idea to do this, you –“ Wunder spluttered, but then stopped himself mid-sentence. “You seriously got us this gigantic tree without a clue about what to do with it?”</p><p>“Well… I figured you might have a plan,” Jankos muttered quietly.</p><p>“No, of course I don’t! I usually just wait in my room until my family is done and look at it then…”</p><p>“Freaking gamers…” Marcin shook his head slowly. “But seriously, how hard could it be? We just take these Christmas hanger things…”</p><p>“Ornaments.”</p><p>“Yeah, those! And then we put them on the tree and… woah, look at these!” Jankos’ eyes started to glisten as he picked up a box full of silver and black ornaments. “They have our logo on it! Oh my god, is that a samurai sword??”</p><p>“Yeah, I think Sam and Hannah made those with a 3D-Printer at work,” Wunder explained with a soft smile on his lips. But Jankos was barely listening to him, he was too busy with ripping every single box apart to look at the magical little Christmas bulbs. “These are all amazing!” The jungler beamed, “I might have helped out more at home if we had had these back then, not gonna lie…”</p><p>“Yeah, well… now is your chance I guess,” Wunder mumbled, looking up and down the bare Christmas tree, “we should probably start by making some sort of plan…”</p><p>“But where’s the fun in that?” Jankos snickered, grabbing one of the huge, silver Christmas ball with G2’s logo on it. “I’m just gonna start on this side and you take the other!”</p><p>“I mean… sure, why not,” the toplaner shrugged and grabbed one of the black ornaments. One by one, he started to hang the little balls, swords and samurai masks onto the branches of the obnoxiously large tree. Even though he had never been particular fond of cheesy decorations, these kind of spoke to him – and not just because he knew that they had been made with love by his lovely girlfriend. No, it felt as if they made the holidays about more than just stupid Santa or dumb Coca Cola Commercials with songs that always got stuck in his head forever. It was about his team’s legacy, and about everything that was to come in the future. A smile hushed over the tall Dane’s face.</p><p>“Hey, do you have any more SILVER balls??” Jankos shouted from the other side of the tree as if he was standing at least twenty feet away.</p><p>“Uhm… yeah, plenty,” Wunder nodded as he passed one of the boxes over to his jungler. “Do you have any more black ones…?”</p><p>“YES TONS OF THEM!” The other guy responded, shoving over a carton full of black ornaments in the next second.</p><p>“Thanks…” Wunder hummed as he got back to work.</p><p>“Do you also think we could use some MUSIC?” Jankos asked after a moment of silence.</p><p>“If you’re thinking about Christmas music, my answer is no.” The toplaner frowned.</p><p>“But I could SING you my FAVOURITE one and –“</p><p>“How would that make me want it more??”</p><p>“Oh, I don’t know,” Jankos said, obviously pouting, “I just thought you’d want to GET TO KNOW ME a little, okay?”</p><p>Wunder sighed. “Isn’t it enough that I spent more time with you than with anyone else on the team?”</p><p>“Hmpf!” Jankos snorted, “that’s just because the other guys are all… you know, DOING IT with each other all the time!!”</p><p>“Uhm…” The Dane put on a pained smile. “What…?”</p><p>“YOU HEARD ME!”</p><p>Wunder didn’t quite know how to react. He chose to ignore the shenanigans that he knew went down behind closed doors – <em>thank god they started closing the doors at least</em> – because thinking about it was not particularly enjoyable for him. He knew that Jankos felt the same way, especially since the jungler was the only single player on their team. <em>Maybe no reaction is the best reaction here</em>? The toplaner thought. “I’m… about done with my side, how about you?”</p><p>“It’s perfect!” The jungler announced proudly, taking a step back. Wunder did the same, ready to inspect the finished piece – but what he found was not exactly what he had imagined.</p><p>“Jankos…” Wunder muttered, balling his fist.</p><p>“Yeah, I know, it’s beautiful,” the Pole nodded, sporting a smug grin.</p><p>“No you idiot!” The toplaner grunted as he pulled the jungler, who had still just been looking at his side of the tree up until now, over to the side. As Jankos realized what both sides looked like together, his smile disappeared.</p><p>“You DUMBASS, why did you only use ONE COLOUR??”</p><p>“I could ask you the same thing!” Wunder barked back, “this is the freaking <em>Two Face</em> of Christmas trees… I told you we should have made a plan!”</p><p>“Don’t pretend that it’s MY FAULT that you have NO TASTE!” Jankos remarked with an angry glare.</p><p>“You – ahh, whatever,” Wunder sighed. He turned around to grab the box filled with colourful fairy lights. “Let’s just put the lights on and pretend like this is… modern art or something.”</p><p>“Fine, whatever,” the jungler muttered. He was obviously still pouting when he grabbed one end of the string of lights.</p><p>“Come on, just… we can still save this,” Wunder said in an attempt to lighten the mood. <em>When does that ever happen?</em> He considered quietly as he started to wrap the lights around the tree from the top. <em>Another Christmas miracle I guess…</em></p><p>“Wait, WAIT!” Jankos stammered – in the next second, Wunder saw some ornaments on the jungler’s side of the tree drop. He closed his eyes, expecting some sort of shattering noise. But nothing – just a faint <em>‘plob’</em>. <em>Ah, right, they were 3D-printed</em>, the Dane thought, clearly relieved. He didn’t want to imagine the pain of having to explain how the first thing him and Jankos had done with the special ornaments Hannah and Sam had made for them was breaking them after all.</p><p>“Shit, they keep falling,” Jankos whined. He was obviously trying his best to be cautious and somehow got tangled up in the fairy lights in the process. Wunder sighed. “You know, I don’t feel like this is working…”</p><p>“Yeah, no shit,” a voice behind them said. Both of the guys turned around in a flash – it took Jankos a little longer, as he was now physically connected to the mess of a Christmas tree they were working on.</p><p>“Grabbz…” Wunder murmured, supressing the desire to roll his eyes. “How long have you been standing there, judging us…?”</p><p>“A while,” the coach shrugged, “it’s kind of my job, you know…”</p><p>“You could have HELPED us, though??” Jankos spluttered, flushed bright red in embarrassment, “isn’t THAT your job??”</p><p>“Fair point,” Grabbz admitted as he came closer, “but I’m afraid this tree is beyond salvation…”</p><p>“Oh come on, we’re trying,” Wunder grumbled. He didn’t even know why he was so invested in this damn Christmas tree he never even wanted in the first place – he only knew that it was personal by now.</p><p>“Yeah, we GOT THIS!” Jankos boasted – but saying that is not half as effective when you’re literally caught up in a ball of fairy lights, apparently.</p><p>“Really?” Grabbz cocked a brow, inspecting both of the completely disjointed looking sides of the tree, “because it looks like you need to start over to me…”</p><p>“Start over? Really?” Wunder moaned. That went against his wish to save the work he had put into this tree. But, more importantly, it destroyed his plan to rush to the WoW-raid that was starting in ten minutes after finishing up.</p><p>“Don’t you think it’s more fun if we all do it together?” Caps beamed as he popped his head into the room. The chatter behind him suggested that the rest of the team was rolling in as well. “Thanks for getting us this awesome tree, though!” The smaller Dane added happily.</p><p>“Oh, well… no big deal,” Wunder mumbled, scratching his head – he simply couldn’t be mad at Rasmus, no matter how hard he tried.</p><p>“Hey, that was MY IDEA!” Jankos snorted.</p><p>“You know the saying ‘every dog has his day’?” Luka laughed as he strolled into the room, followed by Miky and Sam. The jungler scowled in response.</p><p>“Don’t be mean to him, Luka, he really did something nice for us here!” Sam scolded the Croatian immediately.</p><p>The whole trio was wearing matching Santa hats, which was enough to make Wunder feel sick to his stomach. But then…</p><p>“Oh hey, you used the ornaments we made! Yay!” Hannah smiled brightly as she entered the room last, and everything else didn’t matter anymore. The Dane’s heart simply melted into a puddle of love.</p><p>“These do look neat,” Miky remarked with an appreciative nod as he got closer to inspect the Christmas tree.</p><p>“Yeah, but maybe we could find a way for them to <em>stay on</em> the tree, you know?” Grabbz suggested, almost as if he was about to jump into the action – but he had already taken a seat on the couch.</p><p>“And what are you gonna do to help?” Luka scoffed.</p><p>“Backseat gaming, of course,” the coach replied bluntly. “Caps, go untangle Jankos.”</p><p>“Haha okay,” the small Dane chuckled as he got to work.</p><p>“What is this dictatorship…” Miky shook his head dismissively.</p><p>“Oh don’t be so dramatic, let’s just have fun with this,” Sam chirped with a wink. She then went on to turn to the team’s toplaner. “Wunder, you’ll do us the honour of putting on the star on top in the end, right? I’m afraid most of us are <em>too short</em> to do that…”</p><p>“Oh, very funny,” Luka rolled his eyes. “You totally looked at me when you said that…”</p><p>“Hmm, was I…?” The Blonde smiled mischievously as she wrapped her arms around the grumpy Croatian’s neck, more or less hugging him from behind.  </p><p>“OH IT’S FUNNY BECAUSE HE’S SHORT!” Jankos laughed, completely ignoring the fact that he was still trapped in a much more embarrassing situation. The others might as well have been laughing about that – but did that really matter?</p><p>“Fine, fine… all together, then.” Perkz muttered reluctantly. “No inting this time!”</p><p>“No promises…!” Rasmus grinned, dangling a few of the samurai sword ornaments off his fingers.</p><p>The sight of wannabe-Edward-Scissorhands was the last straw – not even Luka could hold on to his serious expression now. Laughter filled the room in which, for the first time in forever, they were all together again.</p><p>And isn’t that what Christmas is all about?</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. No Star Shines as Bright as You (Bwipo/Hyli)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Gabriël, come look at this!”</p><p>Zdravets’ voice echoed through the hall, loud enough for Bwipo to hear in their apartment’s office. He put his headset down and got up to see why his boyfriend called for him time – ever since the holidays had started to roll around, the Bulgarian would always find something to buy or put up or bake, and, most of the time, seeing his boyfriend happy made Bwipo happy, too. Todays was probably not going to be an exception.</p><p>“What is it, babe?” The toplaner asked with a smile as he poked his head into the living room. He found Hylissang standing on top of one of their dining chairs, seemingly working on something on top of the huge window which allowed them to look over Berlin’s rooftops. As soon as Zdravets heard his boyfriend’s voice, he turned around swiftly. “Oh – there you are!”</p><p>“Yeah, of course,” Gabriël nodded, coming closer, “now, why did you call for me? Want me to make sure you don’t fall from the chair?”</p><p>“N-no,” Zdravets smiled shyly as he pointed towards the golden paper stars surrounding him – a new addition to the room the toplaner should have noticed right away, as there were about twenty of the ornaments hanging from the curtain rod on top of the window. But, in the end, he always found himself only having eyes for Zdravets, which made it easy to miss out on everything else in a room. And who could blame him? <em>He looks so cute with his little red apron on,</em> the toplaner thought, getting lost in the thought as he came close enough to hug the other guy’s legs. The apron, combined with the smell lingering on in the apartment, suggested that there were cookies in the oven, and Gabriël wondered how he had ever gotten this lucky.</p><p>“Hello?” Zdravets asked, looking down at his boyfriend who was smiling in the goofiest way possible. “Did you even look? I was wondering whether these are too many stars…”</p><p>“Hmm? Too many? Can there be too many?” The toplaner chuckled.</p><p>“Gabriël, this is not a joke!” The support sighed. “I want to make sure our first Christmas in this apartment is perfect…”</p><p>“I know, I know…” Bwipo smiled, now looking up, “seriously thought, there’s only one thing that makes me worry about this scene…”</p><p>“…Yeah? What is it?”</p><p>“Don’t you think all these stars will get envious of you?”</p><p>“What – what do you mean?” The support asked hesitantly.</p><p>“You know, since they’ll never shine as bright as you?” Gabriël gave his lover another wide smile.</p><p>“Oh – shush, you big dummy!” Zdravets chuckled, blushing all the way.</p><p>“As you wish,” the toplaner smirked. In one swift motion, Bwipo swept his boyfriend off his feet and then carried him over to their grey, cosy couch. They slumped down together, still laughing softly.</p><p>“I really like it, though,” Gabriël whispered after they had calmed down.</p><p>“ You do…?” Zdravets smiled with a sense of relief.</p><p>“Yeah, you know, I really appreciate you putting in all this work for our Christmas celebration,” Bwipo added. He stroked the support’s shoulder with the arm he had wrapped around him tenderly. “I know it’s tough that we can’t go visit our families this year…”</p><p>“Yeah, but… we can do everything that you’d usually do, okay?” Hylissang insisted, raising his head a little. “For example, we could still… get a Christmas tree? And decorate it?”</p><p>“Oh, that would be so pog!” The toplaner grinned. “We always did that on Christmas eve back home..."</p><p>"Yeah, same for me,” Zdravets nodded. “But I was also in charge of setting up the Christmas tree in our office, I think we might still have some ornaments lying around from last year…”</p><p>“Ah, right, I remember seeing you fiddle around with the fairy lights last year,” Bwipo smiled, leaning his head against his boyfriend’s. “But… how did you do that all by yourself? The trees Fnatic used to buy were huge!”</p><p>“Ah, well, I wasn’t alone…” Zdravets explained quietly as he started to play with his hands. “Paul helped me once, Mads did later and –“</p><p>“Paul? You mean sOAZ?” Bwipo asked curiously.</p><p>“Yeah, w-why?” The support stammered, suddenly looking into a different direction.</p><p>“Nothing, just… are you blushing?” Gabriël smirked.</p><p>“Of course not!” Zdravets protested – but, as the toplaner pulled the other guy in a bit tighter, he saw the truth right away. “You totally are!” He snickered.</p><p>“Oh come on, that doesn’t mean anything,” the support pouted. He proceeded to burry his face in the toplaner’s fuzzy Christmas sweater to avoid any further inspection.</p><p>“I was just teasing you…” Gabriël said with a soft smile, “you know, I was always wondering whether you ever had a thing for him…?”</p><p>“What?? Don’t be ridiculous!” Hylissang huffed in an exaggerated manner, clearly giving his real answer away. “Why would you even ask that…?” He added a little quieter.</p><p>“It’s okay, really… I just saw you look at him sometimes, back when I was just rocking the bench.”</p><p>“But it was nothing like that!” Zdravets pleaded, shaking his head. “And nothing ever happened anyway …!”</p><p>Gently, Gabriël brought his hand up to stroke through his boyfriend’s black hair. “As I said, it’s okay, really… also, there’s a clear resemblance, right? Two Toplaners, dark hair, soft belly…” Bwipo started laughing as soon as he finished.</p><p>“I-is that really funny to you…?” Hyli stammered, now looking up into the Belgian’s eyes.</p><p>“Kind of? I always compared myself to him as a toplaner, but never as a <em>rival in love</em>…” Gabriël explained with a grin on his lips.</p><p>“Rival… he would have never been interested anyway,” Hyli muttered with a concerned gaze. “But… are you sure you’re not mad…?”</p><p>“What? Why would I?” Gabriël tilted his head.</p><p>“I don’t know, maybe you just… feel as if you were a replacement or something,” the support mumbled.</p><p>“Am I?”</p><p>“What? No, of course not!” Zdravets promised, now grabbing the toplaner’s hand into his to squeeze it tightly, “with you, everything is different, I… I don’t think I’ve ever loved someone this much before, you know?”</p><p>“See…?” Bwipo smiled softly. “Why would I be jealous of sOAZ when I’m clearly the luckiest man in the world?”</p><p>“Aww, Gabriël…” Zdravets whispered, looking up at his boyfriend with impossibly big eyes. Instead of saying another word, the toplaner pulled the support close, making their lips meet gently. There was no doubt about this still feeling just as vibrant as their first kiss. It was short yet sweet, compressing all of their confessions and affection into a single, sweet moment. Although there would always be many more.</p><p>“So, uhm…” Zdravets mumbled after pulling away to cuddle up to Bwipo’s chest again. “About the Christmas tree…”</p><p>“Oh, right! That was what we were talking about!” Gabriël chuckled.</p><p>“Yeah… so, what do you think? Should we get one?”</p><p>“Hmm, well… I guess it was really important to me back when I was a kid,” Bwipo thought out loud.</p><p>“Right, a Christmas tree is huge for kids… but now that we are kind of grown-ups already…” Hylissang mumbled pensively. He played with a loose thread of the toplaner’s red, fuzzy sweater.</p><p>“Kind of grown-ups, yeah… you mean we’re too old for it?” Bwipo smirked, ruffling Hyli’s hair a little, “you sound like an old man sometimes , I swear!”</p><p>“Old man? Really?” The support frowned.</p><p>“Kind of?” Gabriël smiled. “But it’s fine, we don’t need to go through the hassle of getting one this year… but we can agree on getting one every year once we have kids, right?”</p><p>“K-kids?” Hyli huffed, straightening himself up immediately.</p><p>“Hmm?” Bwipo blinked a couple of times. “yeah, kids… once we adopt some or whatever?”</p><p>“Don’t say that as if it’s a given!” The support stammered, blushing again, “that’s just…”</p><p>“I don’t understand… you’ve never thought about that?” Gabriël tilted his head. “I always imagine us growing old together with our horde of grandchildren visiting us on the weekends, you know?”</p><p>“I don’t… I don’t know, is that really realistic?” Zdravets asked hesitantly. He looked beyond worried.</p><p>“Why wouldn’t it be, babe…?” Bwipo responded, still feeling utterly confused.  </p><p>“I don’t know… you really think we could be good parents? Even though we’re both… guys?”</p><p>“Oh Zdravets…” Gabriël whispered quietly. He didn’t know what to say at first – he simply enclosed his boyfriend into a tight embrace. Sometimes he forgot how hard the Bulgarian had had to fight to come to terms with the feelings he had developed for another man. But, every now and then, it showed. In those moments, Bwipo remembered that he should never take the amazing life they were leading now for granted. Still, right now, he wanted nothing more but to share the inner security he felt with his partner – because he couldn’t feel more certain about how good they were together, and that he’d do whatever it takes to make sure that no one would ever take their happiness away.</p><p>“You really don’t have to worry about that… to be honest, I feel like you’re more of a mother to all of our teammates than their actual moms,” Bwipo said with a smile. He felt Zdravets return the hug a little tighter. “Seriously, you would be a great parent. No doubt about it.”</p><p>“I don’t know…” Zdravets mumbled shyly.</p><p>“Come on, you wanna make sure everyone’s okay, even if that annoys them sometimes…” Gabriël added knowingly. “And that’s because you … care about the people around you, right?”</p><p>“W-well, so do you,” the support said as he gently moved back to look his boyfriend in the eye. “I think you would be an amazing father… you’re always so sweet whenever there are kids at the meet &amp; greets!”</p><p>“As opposed to the others who kind of just stand around instead of engaging with the little ones? Not that hard…” Bwipo laughed.</p><p>“Still!” Zdravets insisted, now chuckling as well. “If it’s with you… I don’t know, maybe it could work. Big maybe, though!”</p><p>“So it’s not the worst idea, then?” Gabriël asked with excitement glistening in his eyes.</p><p>“No, well… maybe once we’re retired?” The support laughed whole-heartedly.</p><p>“Imagine anyone outside of the esports scene hearing you say that!” Bwipo smirked.</p><p>“Haha, well… you know what I meant though, right?”</p><p>“That it won’t be long for us?” Bwipo suggested with a confident grin. He took his boyfriends hand to press a soft smooch on it, and, again, Zdravets looked about as flustered as one could get.</p><p>“No! Ahh, don’t say stuff like that,” the support mumbled as he got up from the couch, “let’s just… could you help me hang this big one up near the window as well? This one lights up!”</p><p>“It lights up, huh…” The toplaner stared at the big, red star which was still standing in the corner of the room, then at the intense collection of starts dangling down from the window rod, and then back at his boyfriend’s hopeful face.</p><p>“What is it?” Zdravets asked.</p><p>“Just… man, those are a lot of stars,” Bwipo mumbled as he finally got off the couch as well.</p><p>“Oh no… you hate it, right? I knew you’d hate it!” The support whispered.</p><p>“No…” Gabriël shook his head. “No, not at all. I think it’s perfect…”</p><p>“Really…?” Zdravets smiled ever so softly.</p><p>“Yeah… Just like you, and everything you do,” the toplaner said teasingly, as he never got tired of seeing his boyfriend blush.</p><p>“How can you always… say stuff like that,” Zdravets mumbled, glancing away as his cheeks started to get rosy.</p><p>“You know… it’s easy when it’s the truth.” Gabriël smiled. And not the cheesiest star decoration in the whole world could have dimmed the shine of his happiness in this very moment.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Footsteps in the Snow (Caps/Selfmade)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This story is particularly close to my heart. Capsmade is still a rareship I guess, and outside of ayaya!context it makes absolutely zero sense, but I love it and hope that you will enjoy this slightly angsty journey! </p><p>(This chapter didn't have a beta, if you find any typos please let me know :'))</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Oskar was used to opening the front door of the office during strange hours, as those were the hours during which he would usually order food these days. Ever since his teammates and ex-teammates had left to go back to visit their families, he had lost whatever feeling he had left for the concept of time, and simply ate, slept and gamed whenever he wanted to. Hungry at 3am? Why not? He was lucky enough to live in a city which allowed him to get food whenever he desired. <em>My shitty old hometown could never,</em> the jungler thought with a satisfied smile on his lips as he slouched through the office’s hallway to answer the nightly call of the doorbell. It was only after he had already opened the front door with the integrated buzzer and started hearing the footsteps of the arriving person echoing through the stairway that he realized he hadn’t <em>actually</em> ordered anything this time.</p><p>“Who is this?” He said loudly, not bothering to be considerate for the neighbours, as he knew that this was a bureau building where not a single soul beside him resided during this time of day. No, there was only him, and this mysterious person trying to get to him.</p><p>“It’s a surprise!” A chirpy voice answered from one story below. The sound of it was enough to make Oskar relax immediately.</p><p>“Couldn’t you have given me a heads-up or something?” The jungler sighed, but he was smiling already.</p><p>“Wouldn’t have been much of a surprise then, right?” Caps beamed as he walked around the corner, still climbing the stairs with a fast pace. He was carrying a white plastic bag, which loosely resembled that of a delivery person at least.</p><p>“Whatcha got there?” Oskar asked, casually leaning against the door frame as he waited for the other guy to walk up to him. “Fancy delivery?”</p><p>“Oh uhm… well,” Rasmus chuckled nervously as he handed the plastic bag over. “I wish it was anything fancy, but I kind of just stuffed all the chocolate and chips we still had lying around in the kitchen into one of the bags I found in the living room?”</p><p>“Huh… gamers living by themselves, hmm?” The jungler hummed.</p><p>“Yeah, it’s truly tragic,” the other guy agreed, “that we are the last of our kind here in Berlin…”</p><p>“So what? Are you here to look after me?” Oskar asked after inspecting the snacks the much smaller midlaner had brought with him.</p><p>“I thought we could look after each other,” Rasmus mumbled as he pushed himself up onto his tiptoes. And then, Oskar closed his eyes as he felt the Dane’s lips press up to his. With the plastic bag wrapped around his wrist, the jungler wrapped his arms around his boyfriend to pull him inside. Yes, if he had to open the door at 3am for anyone else besides a delivery person, he was glad that it was for Rasmus.</p><p>---</p><p>“You know, I feel like this office is too big to be cosy,” Rasmus said as he wiped his chips-crusted fingers on his sweatpants, leaving orange streaks on his black slacks.</p><p>“Too big? What do you mean?” Oskar asked lazily as he glimpsed inside the bag of chips, trying to figure out whether there were any worthy crumbs left in there.</p><p>“You know… we’re sitting on this couch, and it’s so big, and it’s in the middle of a room with barely any other furnishing… isn’t it lonely?” The midlaner asked as he looked around.</p><p>“Huh… I don’t know, I guess it’s supposed to be elegant.” The jungler shrugged. “I don’t mind as long as it is functional to be honest…”</p><p>“I care about comfortability,” Rasmus mumbled as he started to snuggle up to the Pole’s arm.</p><p>“I know you do,” Oskar smirked. “I guess being here doesn’t make you feel nostalgic then, huh?”</p><p>“No, no… it’s a new office anyway, right? It might be a bit weird but… being here is well worth it if it’s with you!” The Dane smiled.</p><p>“Hmm, I’m glad,” the jungler hummed in response. He finally put the empty bag of chips down. Even though this unexpected visit filled him with joy, there were still some questions flying around in his head which he couldn’t quite ignore. “Look, Rasmus… I’m glad that you came here, even though it was kind of unexpected.” He began.</p><p>“Hmm, well, I hung up the call and said I’d see you soon, I don’t know how sneaky that was actually,” the midlaner laughed.</p><p>“Shit, I guess I might be a little tired,” Oskar admitted, scratching the back of his head with his free hand. “But I was wondering why you never do that when I’m home? In the apartment, I mean?”</p><p>“Oh, you know… that’s a different story,” Rasmus answered, a little quieter. “It still feels a bit… <em>strange</em>.</p><p>“Hmm…” Oskar hummed, looking up at the ceiling. That’s what he guessed would be the reason, of course. No matter how happy a relationship may make you, it can never rid you of the ghosts of your past. No, that’s something everyone has to figure out on their own – and, maybe, even after over two years, Rasmus still hadn’t gotten to that point yet. It was frustrating, but who was Oskar to complain? He was not exactly a blank sheet of paper either.</p><p>“So, uhm, Oskar?” Rasmus asked after a moment of silence.</p><p>“Yeah?”</p><p>“You know how, uhm, Christmas is coming up next week?”</p><p>“Christmas? Already?” Oskar let his head fall back with a grunt. “I can’t believe how fast the time flew by… I’ve been gaming all day for weeks, and I still haven’t gotten used to the preseason changes!”</p><p>“Haha, well… I think you’re doing pretty well if you ask me,” the midlaner smirked, patting the jungler’s chest with his flat hand. “But I was trying to ask whether you wanna… you know, finally go back to see your family now that the holidays are approaching?”</p><p>Oskar frowned. “No, why would I do that?”</p><p>“Uhm… they’re your family?” Rasmus asked hesitantly. He looked up to give his boyfriend a concerned look. “I know you never really talk about them, but still…”</p><p>“There’s nothing to talk about,” the jungler grumbled. He looked away without even noticing. “I don’t just never talk about them, I never talk to them. Period.”</p><p>“Huh… I’m sorry, I didn’t know it was that bad,” Rasmus whispered sheepishly. He cuddled up to the Pole a bit tighter.</p><p>“You don’t have to be sorry… they never really accepted me for who I am anyway. Being open about being gay in Poland? Unthinkable… the whole professional gamer thing was just the cherry on top I guess,” Oskar shrugged.</p><p>“Don’t you miss them sometimes, though..?”</p><p>“Why miss someone who doesn’t really care about you or your wishes?”</p><p>And that was that. After the last disastrous Christmas he had spent with his family before joining Fnatic, Oskar had sworn to never turn back. This big city had everything he needed anyway – all the food, the internet, the entertainment… and his boyfriend, of course. His boyfriend who he could kiss on the middle of the street if he wanted to. His boyfriend who’d be with him even though –</p><p>“Family is still family,” Rasmus said quietly. “I understand why you did what you did, but I still feel bad for you… I stayed behind because I wanted to enjoy some more days of quiet gaming time, and be with you, of course, but I’m still excited to go back to Denmark on the weekend.”</p><p>“Oh… yeah, of course you’d go,” Oskar nodded slowly. It made sense, of course. Caps’ dad was famous for being the perfect supporter of the scene, and a great dad, on top of that. Why wouldn’t the sunny Dane want to go back home as well? “I’ll miss you,” the jungler murmured still. He didn’t know what it was that made him this sentimental, but he figured the fact that it was 4am by now was a reasonable excuse.</p><p>“What if you don’t have to miss me?” The midlaner said, sitting himself up a bit straighter.</p><p>“Hmm?”</p><p>“Well, why don’t you just come with me?” Rasmus asked softly. He gave Oskar his signature crooked smile – the one the jungler simply couldn’t get enough of.</p><p>“Come with you…?” The jungler murmured.</p><p>“Yeah, why not? I’m sure my family would be happy to have you!” The midlaner added quickly. “And, you know, I wouldn’t mind having you around either…”</p><p>“Very funny,” Oskar rolled his eyes playfully before pinching his boyfriends side. The smaller guy jerked to the side, now laughing again. “Of course I wouldn’t mind seeing you more than just every now and then… but are you sure it’s not going to be a problem?”</p><p>“Oh, more the opposite, really,” Rasmus explained eagerly.</p><p>“Really? You don’t think they’d be surprised to find out you have a boyfriend by me showing up in front of their doorstep all of a sudden?” Oskar frowned. He remembered the last time that had happened to him, although it had not been voluntary back then. Needless to say, that hadn’t turned out well for him or his partner at the time.</p><p>“Find out about you?” Rasmus chuckled. “I feel like there’s a lot you don’t know here…”</p><p>“Hmm is that so…” Oskar sighed as he pulled his boyfriend back into his arms. “How about this then: I’ll trust you, we’re gonna go to Denmark or whatever, and you tell me everything I need to know so that I don’t make a damn fool out of myself. Deal?”</p><p>“Yeah,” Rasmus smirked, rubbing his cheek against Oskar’s, “yeah, that sounds fair. Even though I doubt you could do anything to make a fool out of yourself in front of my family…”</p><p>“Is that a challenge?” The jungler grinned.</p><p>“Not sure… guess we’ll find out,” the midlaner winked. And, just like that, it was settled.  </p><p>---</p><p>Oskar couldn’t recall travelling ever being this fun before. Rasmus had packed them snacks which exclusively consisted of take-out leftovers and spent the entirety of the train ride teaching the jungler every trick in the book when it came to <em>Magic: The Gathering</em>. They laughed and joked, and Oskar even ended up winning a round shortly before the train arrived at their destination of choice. He was pretty sure that Rasmus had let him win, but he didn’t mind – in a way, he almost felt teleported back in time to their first real date. And that mushy, warm feeling in his guts the memory presented him with gave the jungler the courage he needed to push through as soon as he spotted Caps’ Dad waiting for them at the exit of the train station. He was waving and shouting, practically jumping up and down in what looked like a bright red G2 Christmas sweater. While Rasmus simply shouted and waved back, Oskar silently gathered all the strength he had in him to make it through.</p><p>“Hey! Hey there, boys!” Caps’ Dad exclaimed again, practically using his hands as a megaphone now.</p><p>“Hey, we made it!” Rasmus announced proudly. He was pulling the black suitcase behind him with one hand while still waving with the other, and Oskar found himself wondering where the little Dane took all of his energy from again. He was ready for a nap by now, despite only carrying a rather light backpack which held the entirety of Rasmus’ <em>Magic</em> card collection and one half-empty bottle of water.</p><p>“You sure did, søn!” Caps’ Dad said proudly, closing the distance between them to hug Rasmus tightly.</p><p>Oskar awkwardly pulled the suitcase over to the side to make some space – he wasn’t quite sure what the right way to introduce himself would be, let alone what he was supposed to do with his freaking hands. He cursed himself out for not asking Rasmus for specific instructions beforehand. <em>Oh well, here goes nothing, he thought</em>, swallowing hard as he stuck out his hand. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Winther, I’m Oskar, Rasmus’… uhm…”</p><p>“Boyfriend, I know, I’m so happy to finally meet you!” The middle-aged man exclaimed excitedly. He completely ignored the jungler’s extended hand and directly went in for the hug. “No need for formalities, søn, just call me <em>‘far’</em>, okay?”</p><p>“That means <em>‘Dad’</em>,” Rasmus whispered beside Oskar.</p><p>“W-what?” The Pole stammered. If he had no idea what to do with his hands before already, he was completely lost now. He settled on stiffly patting the back of the man lovingly hugging him, even though they had literally just met a second ago.</p><p>“You’ll get used to it, don’t you worry,” Caps’ Dad concluded with a satisfied smile as he pulled away from the hug and took a hold of the traveller’s suitcase. “Now, let’s get you boys home, shall we? Your favourite cookies are waiting for you, Rasmus, fresh out of the oven!”</p><p>“Yes please,” Rasmus chirped happily. He took Oskar’s hand and pulled him along towards the parking lot while the jungler’s mouth still stood wide open. He had expected this trip to hold some weird twists for him, but this was beyond what his wildest imagination had come up with. <em>What the hell just happened? Did I just get adopted?</em> Oskar thought as he was parked in the backseat of a family car which blasted Christmas tunes at maximum volume. <em>What did I get myself into?</em></p><p>---</p><p>Even though the train ride had been great fun, Oskar had not expected that his true journey would only begin after they had already arrived in Denmark. Meeting Caps’ Dad was one thing but entering the Winther household, which might as well could have been called the freaking <em>Winter Wonderland</em>, was a completely different story. He was welcomed with wide smiles, open arms and freshly baked cookies. They tasted better than any of those the jungler had bought for his nightly snack times back in Berlin. He knew that people always said self-made cookies were the best, but, as he had never baked any as a child, he figured that might as well be a hoax to get people to work for their food. Until now, at least.</p><p>The next surprise was Rasmus’ little sister, who recruited Oskar to read her a story after he had exchanged about two sentences with her, and her room was maybe the most perfect children’s den the Pole had ever seen. He remembered his own room back in Poland, which had been furnished with the bare necessities, kind of like the Fnatic office. He never thought he minded that, but there was a damn dragon painted on the wall of the little girl’s room, and there were more toys than one child could ever need. And man, that little girl was not stingy when it came to sharing her sunshine, just like the rest of her family. <em>Just like Rasmus</em>, Oskar thought as he reached for the next storybook stacked up in a huge shelf near the window of the room.</p><p>‘More is more’ seemed to be the mantra in general when it came to interior design in this household. There were Christmas decorations pressed into every corner of the house – be it snowflakes, flashing fairy lights, Santa Claus replicas of all shapes and sizes, or even a mistle toe. Caps’ parents cheerly demonstrated what to do under a mistle toe, and Oskar tried to remember whether his parents had ever been this happy. Whether anyone had ever encouraged him to kiss his boyfriend in front of them. And, lastly, what in the hell he was doing here.</p><p>Sure, the scene was perfect, everyone was nice, and he loved seeing Rasmus blossom in the environment which had shaped him into the wonderful person he was today. The problem was that it was <em>too perfect</em>. Oskar was certain of that feeling when he simply couldn’t fall asleep lying next to Rasmus in his old room that night. He stared up at the collection of glow-up stars which had been glued to the ceiling above the bed, probably reminiscing of the Dane’s childhood. And, almost as if that was the last straw, Oskar concluded that he couldn’t take it anymore. He was only wearing a plain T-shirt and sweatpants, but he didn’t bother to grab a jacket. He just ran out.</p><p>---</p><p>The snow crumbled under his bare feet as Oskar walked out of the little garden gate which let him enter the field behind the Winhter residence. There were no other buildings or lights around, just a flat snow blanket which faintly reflected the moonlight. The jungler saw some pine trees in the distance, but he had no particular destination in mind. He just needed to walk - he needed the fresh, cold air to calm down somehow. He was simply overwhelmed by all the unconditional love which had almost drowned him out, making it impossibly hard to breathe. <em>But why? Why am I like this?</em> The jungler thought with a frown as he stopped to look up at the night sky. <em>Shouldn’t I be happy? </em></p><p>Yes, no matter how you looked at it, the way in which his boyfriend’s family had accepted him right away was a blessing. One that he never thought he’d ever get after making some terrible experiences back in his youth. But maybe that was exactly the problem. Suddenly, Oskar started to feel the cold that had previously not gotten to him. He slouched down into the snow, hugging his knees and rubbing his naked arms with his hands to warm up. He started shivering, and, again, wondered what he was even doing here. Not specifically out here in the snow in the middle of the night – just here in general<em>. I could have been in Berlin, eating freaking Kebab for Christmas by myself in peace</em>, he thought as he bit his lip<em>. I could have</em>…</p><p>“Oskar!”</p><p>“Huh…?” The jungler wasn’t sure whether he was imagining things at first. Had someone really just called for him?</p><p>“Oskar, come back!” The voice shouted again, and,  as the Pole turned around, he saw Rasmus stumping through the snow. The midlaner was seemingly wearing his father’s heavy and way too large boots, which probably made it hard for him to wade through the snow. Oskar held his breath. He didn’t know what to say in response – he hadn’t expected anyone to notice his escape, and especially not his boyfriend who had been sleeping so peacefully. But now, Rasmus was wading towards him – quite clumsily and slowly, but he was getting there.</p><p>“Oskar, what…” Rasmus panted as soon as he finally got to the jungler. “What are you doing out here?”</p><p>“Just… I just needed some fresh air,” Oskar muttered as he got up to a stand. He carefully dusted the snow which had collected on his sweatpants off before looking his boyfriend in the eye – Rasmus looked beyond worried.</p><p>“Fresh air? Dressed like this? You’ll freeze at this rate!” The midlaner exclaimed, grabbing the jungler’s cold hands to warm them with his. “What’s gotten into you??”</p><p>“I… I don’t know,” the Pole mumbled. He didn’t pull away from Rasmus’ touch, but he already felt like running away again. He didn’t want to pull the cheery midlaner down with him, after all. “I think I just freaked out because… I don’t feel like I belong here.” Oskar finally admitted, staring down into the snow.</p><p>“What…? What makes you think that?” Rasmus whispered, coming a bit closer, “everyone is so excited to have you here, why would you…”</p><p>“That’s exactly the problem, okay?” Oskar sighed. He looked up to meet the midlaner’s concerned gaze once more. “This is nothing like what I know, Rasmus… everyone is cheery, we get to be together, no one has as much as CURSED ONCE in front of me, I – I just don’t know how to act! Is this a dream? Am I going to fuck it up and wake up with nothing tomorrow? This is just too fucking much!” Oskar rambled, only stopping to kick some snow away as if that could resolve any of his frustration. “Kurwa!” He yelled out into the silence of the night, daring to manifest all the frustration that had build up during the day.</p><p>“I…” Rasmus started, but he didn’t continue. Maybe he didn’t know how to. Instead, he closed his arms around the jungler’s waist and pressed his face against his chest. He held him tight, tight enough for Oskar to feel his own furious heartbeat. Tight enough for the jungler to come back to his senses.</p><p>“I’m… sorry, I don’t know where that came from,” Oskar muttered, slowly returning the hug.</p><p>“I think I get it,” Rasmus whispered back in response.</p><p>“You do…?”</p><p>“Yeah, I mean… not knowing whether you deserve the happiness you feel,” the midlaner went on, “that… is something I had to deal with a lot as well.”</p><p>“Oh… right,” Oskar murmured softly.</p><p>“But you know what I think?” Rasmus said, now lifting his head to look at the jungler, “I think that that’s stupid. Because I am where I am because I worked for it, right?”</p><p>“Yeah, of course,” Oskar hummed in agreement as he stroked one of the strains of hair the wind had blown into Rasmus’ face away gently.</p><p>“And you’re the same. I don’t think I know a single person who works as hard as you, and you fought for this relationship and I… I think we made our destiny our own, okay?” Rasmus said with conviction, holding eye-contact.</p><p>“Our destiny? What do you mean by that?” Oskar asked, wondering why the usually so light-hearted Dane looked so serious all of a sudden.</p><p>“I mean that you… I mean we, we belong here,” Rasmus explained. He wrapped his arms around the jungler’s neck, bringing their faces even closer together.</p><p>“Here as in a field of snow in the middle of the night?” Oskar smirked as he tightened his embrace a little as well.</p><p>“Here as in together, dummy,” Rasmus laughed. And, instead of responding, Oskar leaned down to kiss his boyfriend ever so softly. It was cold, unforgivable cold, but the way in which their lips were united under the light of the starry night sky felt absolutely perfect. But that didn’t scare Oskar this time around – at least not anymore. He felt Rasmus grinning against his lips as he slowly pulled away. “Thank you,” the jungler whispered before loosening his grip on the midlaner’s waist.</p><p>“No need to thank me,” Rasmus explained with a smile, “I’m sure you’d do the same thing for me if I ever decided to run off into the snow in the middle of the night.”</p><p>“Uhm, sure,” Oskar smirked. “That might have not been a great idea, huh? I’m kind of cold.”</p><p>“Kind of? We really need to head back, I’m freezing, and I’m wearing my Dad’s ridiculous boots!” Rasmus huffed, pointing down to his feet.</p><p>“They do look pretty warm,” Oskar admitted as he took Rasmus’ hand to walk him back to the house.</p><p>“They are… you want to put them on? I’m sure they’d fit,” the Dane suggested as they trotted through their previously left footprints in the snow.</p><p>“Oh, but they suit you so well,” Oskar smirked. “I wouldn’t want to ruin that image…”</p><p>“Ah, whatever,” Rasmus chuckled. “Let’s just hurry to get inside to warm you up, huh?”</p><p>And, as they quickened their pace to get back to the warm and welcoming <em>Winter Wonderland</em> that was the Winther household, Oskar finally felt like he could accept the happiness he had been unable to justify all day long. <em>Screw the ghosts of the past</em>, he thought as he squeezed his boyfriends hand softly and glanced over at the small Dane’s crooked smile. <em>Screw all the insecurities and doubts about how much I deserve this.</em></p><p>
  <em>I’ll never let you go</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>That's a wrap on all three stories! Thank you for making it this far ;)</p><p>If you wanna leave some thoughts in the comments, I'd appreciate it greatly! Hope your Christmas can be as lovely as the current circumstances allow. Much love &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>That's a wrap on our first little story, two more to go! </p>
<p>I hope you had as much reading it as I had writing it :) Kudos and comments are much appreciated!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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